In many commercial air conditioning, heating and ventilating systems, treated air is discharged into an area to be conditioned through an air distribution or conditioning unit. For example, one general type of air conditioning system, often referred to as a split system, includes separate indoor and outdoor units. The outdoor unit includes a compressor, a heat exchanger and a fan. The indoor unit includes a heat exchanger and a fan. In operation, the indoor fan draws air into the indoor unit, through an inlet thereof, and forces the air over the indoor heat exchanger and then out of the indoor unit, through an outlet opening therein.
The outdoor fan draws air into the outdoor unit, through an inlet, forces that air over the outdoor heat exchanger and then forces that air out of the outdoor unit through an outlet therein. At the same time, a compressor causes a refrigeration fluid to circulate through and between the indoor/outdoor heat exchangers. At the indoor heat exchanger, the refrigerant absorbs heat from the air passing over that heat exchanger, cooling that air. At the same time, at the outdoor heat exchanger, the air passing over the heat exchanger absorbs heat from the refrigerant passing therethrough. Typically a louvered assembly is disposed in the outlet of the indoor unit to direct the air discharge from that unit at a preferred angle.
Commonly, the indoor unit of a split system is mounted on the floor of a room against a wall thereof. In some situations, however, it is desirable to place the indoor unit in other locations, such as on the ceiling of the room or on the wall at a position above the floor. When mounting the indoor unit on the wall above the floor, a mounting which is commonly referred to as a "hi-wall split mount", it is desirable for the air discharge to be located at the bottom of the unit. Accordingly, a unit would be oriented exactly opposite from the mounting of a console mount unit.
A further benefit to the conditioning of the indoor air which occurs with such an air conditioning unit is the removal of undesired humidity in the air as the air being cooled is passed by the indoor heat exchanger. This dehumidification results in an accumulation of water as humidity condenses on the cold indoor heat exchanger coils. It is accordingly necessary to collect the removed water and divert it to an appropriate disposal point.
It should be appreciated that an indoor unit of an air conditioner, which may be mounted in each of the above-mentioned floor mount, ceiling mount, and hi-wall mount, with a bottom discharge orientation, while still providing the ability to collect the condensate from the unit would be extremely desirable.
An indoor unit for an air conditioning system which may be mounted as a floor, ceiling and wall mount is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,260. The air distribution unit, however, of the '260 patent provides a wall mount orientation with the air discharge at the top of the unit, which compromises the ability to place the unit in the high wall location, which is desirable of such units. Because the '260 unit must be mounted in the hi-wall application in the same orientation as the floor mount, in order to collect condensate, the unit must be mounted substantially below the ceiling line in order to achieve acceptable air discharge flow from the top of the unit.